The mid-1990s were some dark days for the Nets franchise. But, according to ESPN, the team was incredibly close to renaming itself the Swamp Dragons.
While the idea gained traction — it got the thumbs up from 26 of 27 members of the NBA Board of Governors — Nets co-owner David Gerstein ultimately voted against it.
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Now all we're left to do is wonder what could have been.
The idea stemmed from a desire to get more people in the seats. As former Nets president Jon Spoelstra told ESPN, "We had no redeemable history. We had never won anything, and our name — it was like calling the Yankees the "New York Second Bases." The team never had a chance with that name."
But, why the Swamp Dragons?
"The Dragon came up right away, but we needed something to identify it locally," Spoelstra said. "I was sitting in my office with Jim Lampariello, our vice president, and I just said, "Every time I look out the window here, I see this swamp. And every time I think of swamps, I think of swamp rats. What about that?"
And like that, an idea that would die way too soon was born.
The court designs are enthralling and the uniforms intriguing, if not the next fashion statement.
Said Tom O'Grady, the NBA's former creative director, about the designs: "We threw the kitchen sink out there. We figured, 'Why half-ass it?' Some of them look like wrestling tights. It's like, "Hello, NASCAR."
As the story goes, then-NBA commissioner David Stern originally called it "the stupidest f---ing idea I've ever heard."
But he decided to let it go...because he figured someone else would be the bad guy.
"I decided not to stop it," he said. "I was confident the [Nets] owners would shut it down."
But all seven New Jersey owners voted yes. It wasn't until the decision was presented to the NBA Board of Governors that Gerstein got cold feet. He said he is glad the Nets didn't make the switch.
"I don't recall the vote, but we all thought it was inappropriate in the end," he said. "The name just wasn't right. I mean, would they be the Brooklyn Swamp Dragons today? The rest of the league would have done whatever we wanted, but we decided collectively to vote against it."
Jerry Cohen, then a member of the Nets' "Secaucus 7" ownership group, said he the change would have had negative implications.
"Looking back, I'm glad we changed course," he said. "It would have been demeaning to the league. Why take the ridicule? We went through a lot of tough times, but then we reached the Finals. Is that the name you really want in the Finals?"
But still, we wonder...what would Jason Kidd have looked like as a Swamp Dragon?